This question is almost inevitable if you make a big change in your life.

Everything takes longer than you anticipated.

Lots of things don’t turn out how you imagined they would.

Some things simply fail after you’ve expended a lot of TIME, MONEY and EFFORT.

If it’s a new job you want, the application forms take hours to complete, in many cases you don’t hear back and the interviews are gruelling.

If it’s a business you’re starting you discover once you complete one thing there are a million more things to do. The to do list is, by nature, endless and it’s not straightforward like a job – there is no plan or set structure, everything seems like trial and error.

What will you be feeling at this stage?

Sometimes, disappointed, very disappointed.

You’ll be questioning your decision to shake things up in your life.

No one cares what I do anyway? You’ll think.

If you’ve left work and started your own thing you’ll discover that your friends might not want to be your customers.

You thought they’d be all out ready to buy what you’re selling. You thought they’d even help you sell by telling their friends about it.

Nope.

That’s not how it usually works.

I made this discovery early in business and by the time I was starting my third business I didn’t even account for friends in the plan.

What you will discover is that there is a whole world of different people out there interested in what you’re doing.

You just need to go out and find them.

They’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and whatever the social media tool of the day is.

You’re doing this because if you died tomorrow you would definitely regret not having taken this path with your life.

Chalk the setbacks and outright failures down as life lessons.

Someone, potentially a lot of people, do care about what you are doing.

Don’t try to do it all on your own.

Seek advice. Seek coaches. Seek mentors. Think. Breathe.

Go!Make it happen.

Have a business or life question you want me to answer?Please email it to me with the subject “Question”. Note that all such questions will be answered as a blog post and will be sent to my full email list.

It’s not just you; even presidents and army generals get that feeling.

Is it really the best decision for your overall wellbeing?

Is it best for your family?

Is it the easy option? I hope not.

What if it doesn’t work?

If it’s a business, most first businesses don’t work, you’ll go on to start another business having learnt a bucket load of useful lessons and hopefully made great contacts.

If it’s a career change, what’s the worst that could happen?

You could always go back to your old career.

Nothing has to be permanent.

The more you think, “this is a big deal”, the more anxious you will be about it.In several successful business case studies I’ve read, entrepreneurs revealed that a healthy dose of naivety helped them moved forward.If they’d known how much work, effort and complete endurance would be needed they would not have taken that first step.I agree.The beauty of phase one, being uncertain and unfamiliar, is that all you have to do is think.Now you’ve decided it’s time to do.Some moments will be painful.Failed meetings and interviews will make you feel like giving up.The learning curve will be steep.Having chosen an option you’ll now have a plethora of other decisions to make.In all of it remember that speed, comfort and instant gratification are the antithesis to progress.Keep working.Every effort you make moves you a little closer to the goal. Your efforts shut up that naughty little voice that says, "just give up". Whatever decision you’d taken would have involved discomfort and pain.Mistakes are inevitable; they are part of the journey.Yes, you can do this.Don’t listen to that little voice in your head that says that you can’t.

Have a business or life question you want me to answer?Please email it to me with the subject “Question”. Note that all such questions will be answered as a blog post and will be sent to my full email list. I will only answer questions that I feel competent to answer and that align with the goals of this website.